University Business Report: Competitors and Competition Analysis

This report, presented by Group 2, delves into the critical aspects of business competition and the role of competitors. It begins by defining competitors and rivals, differentiating between direct, indirect, and replacement competition. The report highlights the benefits of competition, such as increased demand, innovation, and improved customer service, while also acknowledging potential disadvantages like reduced market share and unnecessary spending. The core of the report emphasizes the importance of studying the competition, providing insights into market trends, customer expectations, and potential vulnerabilities. Real-world examples, including Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi and DHL vs. FedEx, illustrate the concepts discussed. The conclusion stresses the significance of competitive analysis for entrepreneurs, equipping them with the knowledge to penetrate the market effectively and identify opportunities where competitors fall short. This report serves as a valuable resource for understanding the competitive landscape and developing effective business strategies.

Competitors and Competition – Presented by Group 2
INTRODUCTION
What are Competitors?
A COMPETITOR is a person, business, team, or organization that
competes against you or your company. In business, we call a close
competitor a RIVAL.
If two companies are leaders in their field, we refer to them as ARCH-
RIVALS. Beverage giants Coca-Cola and PepsiCo make virtually identical
products and have a very similar market share. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are
arch-rivals.
What is Competition?
Competition is the contest between organizations that provide similar
products or services or that target the same audience of consumers. Businesses
compete to convert and retain customers, increase revenue and gain more
market share.
A high amount of business competition may be a sign of a healthy,
profitable marketplace and often enhances the overall quality of available
products and services by encouraging organizations to improve their
operations, fulfill the needs of their customers and develop their client
relationships.
3 Types of Competition
Direct Competition
Where different businesses sell the same products to the same audience and
compete for the same potential market.
A suitable example are McDonald and Jollibee's rivalry:
• Both are in the fast-food industry
• Have similarities in products
Indirect Competition
Where businesses sell products or services that are not necessarily the same but
satisfy the same consumer need.

Example of indirect competitors are Jollibee and Pizza Hut because even
though both have different product;
• Still, they operate in the same industry which is about food.
Replacement Competition
(Also called Potential Competition) businesses who have the ability to replace
the business' offering altogether by providing a new solution.
An example for this are taxi's and jeepneys being kind a threatened by Grab
and Uber cars or vehicles.
Benefits of Business Competition
1. Increases the Demand
As more companies invest in their marketing and advertising efforts,
consumer demand for their products and services may increase as brand
awareness continues to grow.
Business competition is an effective way to increase the demand for a
product or service. As more companies invest in their marketing and
advertising efforts, consumer demand for their products and services may
increase as brand awareness continues to grow. This is beneficial to each
competitor involved and may result in increased revenue, higher customer
acquisition, and retention.
2. Boosts Innovation
Business competition may encourage organizations to innovate their
strategies and improve their products or services in creative, revolutionary
ways.
In order to gain an advantage in the marketplace, business competition
may encourage organizations to innovate their strategies and improve their
products or services in creative, revolutionary ways.
3. Makes Businesses Serve Customers Better
Rivalry among the companies is often won by the company that stands
out and serves the customers better than others. This makes the market players
put customers on the top of their priority lists.
Disadvantages of Business Competition

1. Reduces the Market Share of the Business
A rise in competition makes the business share its market with other players.
This is often unwelcomed by the existing businesses.
2. Makes Business Spend Unnecessarily
Competition often makes a business overspend on marketing and other
promotional strategies to woo the customers, business partners, and
employees. This adds to the expense and is often unnecessary.
3. Customers Get Confused
Customers are often confused by a large number of similar products available
in the market. Competition makes them doubt their choice and often puzzles
them
Why study the competition?
You should learn from the successes and mistakes of your competitors
by studying them. Instead of replicating their idea, take inspiration from them
and devise a strategy for how you can improve your customer service instead
of copying their idea. Keep an eye out for the latest industry trends as well.
Identifying who your competitors are and what they have to offer can help
you stand out from the crowd with your marketing, products, and services. It
will allow you to establish your prices in a way that is cost-effective, as well as
assist you in responding to rival marketing campaigns with your own ideas.
You can utilize this knowledge to improve your own business
performance by devising marketing strategies that take advantage of your
competitors' vulnerabilities. You can also examine potential concerns created
by existing and future competitors in your market. You'll be able to be more
realistic about how effective you can be with this information.
Why study the competition?
Because it helps you with your business. As a business attempts to win
over consumers and increase market share, it must have a well-defined plan,
and performing competition research is an important component of that
strategy. The greatest advantage of studying your competitors is that you get
a better insight about your flaws. Analyzing the competition will help you
improve your unique selling points. While you study your competitors, you get
to know about their success and failures which can be used as inspiration.

Just by studying you will know what competitors are doing will give you
a thorough insight on your customers’ expectations. It is likely that your
competitors are selling the same product at a lower price or offering better
service without charging the customers any extra amount.
Two Examples of Business and its Competitors
Coke vs. Pepsi
Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo, Inc. are very similar businesses in terms of industry,
ideal consumers, and flagship products. Both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are
global leaders in the beverage industry, offering consumers hundreds of
beverage brands.
They are an excellent illustration of direct rivalry, since both of these firms sell
almost identical products yet attempt to increase their market share through
marketing and positioning methods.
DHL vs. FedEx
DHL and FedEx are direct rivals that provide worldwide courier delivery
services. They differ in terms of specialized services and add-ons such as
overnight delivery, long-distance delivery, and so on. They also use pricing
battles to increase their market share.
FedEx courier services are less expensive for local shipments, whereas DHL
courier services are less expensive for international shipments. FedEx is normally
faster for local delivery in the United States, whereas DHL Express is usually the
fastest for international shipment.
Conclusion
As students of Entrepreneurship, it is important for us to study and learn
about business competition and competitors since competitive analysis equips
us with information about how competitors market their business and ways to
penetrate the market by entry through product or service gaps in areas that
your competitors do not serve or do not serve well.
And that concludes our report. I hope you learned a lot today, thank
you for listening, keep safe, and God bless you all.